All Trolls Are Different: Difference between revisions

Err? Well, they're ''always'' big, ugly, brutal, and stupid, right? Except when they're small, [[Ugly Cute]] and friendly.

 

 

All right, let's admit it. Trolls are ''diverse''. It's not even a matter of [[Our Monsters Are Different|everyone wanting them to be different]]; there are so many clashing ideas of trolls in mythology ''itself'' that it's hard to decide what they are. So, really, you can't blame modern creators for putting their own spin on trolls. If there is any consistency, it is that [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?|the less cute the troll, the meaner the troll]], but even that tends to be subverted.

Many of the differences stem from language barriers. When translating a myth from another culture, it was common habit for a previously unknown creature to be stamped as a troll. The names Ogre, Giant, and Troll were also interchangeable for many storytellers, resulting in further confusion.

 

 

Has nothing to do with [[troll]]ing, [[No Except Yes|except]] [[Homestuck|when it does.]]

 

 

{{examples}}

* Due to its policy that [[All Myths Are True]], ''[[Hellboy (comics)|Hellboy]]'' ends up with more types of troll than you can shake a [[Red Right Hand]] at.

* In "A Beautiful Tale," a story in the adult comic ''[[XXXenophile]]'', trolls are a species possessed of [[Super Strength|superhuman strength]] and [[Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism|glaring sexual dimorphism]]. We only ever see the females (called "huldra") who are [[Cute Little Fangs|sharp-toothed]] [[Cute Monster Girl]]s with long tufted tails.

** A third "troll" type exists, but he is an alien, not a mythical creature. Pip Gofern (aka Pip the Troll) is minor royalty of the Laxadazian race, and more resembles a short, hornless, potbellied satyr than a troll - including in his appetites.

* The trolls of [[Lanfeust]] are 7–8 feet tall fur-covered humanoids that live in their own villages. They eat anything that comes their way, can survive just about anything you throw at them, and smash first, ask questions very rarely.

** Trope shamelessly exploited for the many unofficial sequels which had next to nothing to nothing in common with the first two apart from having some kind of monster.

* Trolls in ''[[Willow]]'' are smelly, vicious apelike brutes who hate Nelwyns.

* In ''[[Hellboy II]]: The Golden Army'', creatures of every shape and size are seen at the Troll Market. At least some of them aren't trolls, but the one creature explicitly identified as a troll was spindly-limbed and hairless, casting a glamour to make her look like an old human woman. She also [[If You're So Evil Eat This Kitten|eats cats]] and is terrified of canaries.

* In ''[[Ernest Scared Stupid]]'', Ernest faces off against a troll named Trantor who [[Sealed Evil in a Can|his ancestor Phineas Worrell sealed under a great oak tree long ago]]. Trantor was big and ugly and liked to go after children, who he turned into little wooden dolls which gave him his power and who could use the voice of anyone he turned into a doll. He could only be stopped by "the heart of a child and a mother's care," which turned out to be unconditional love and... milk.

** In the fourth movie, a troll is seen briefly, being mistaken for Shrek. They're slightly taller and bulkier than ogres. Or at least, that particular one was anyway.

* The Norwegian film [[The Troll Hunter]] shows off this trope like a peacock displaying his feathers. Let's see, you've got a very large three-headed forest troll, a big aquatic brutish troll that lives under a bridge and has a taste for small wooly hoofed mammals, a whole pack of large furry cave trolls, and a colossal mountain troll who looks like what would happen if [[Cloverfield|Clover]] was romantically involved with [[Shadow of the Colossus|Gaius]]. All of them [[Bizarre Alien Biology|react badly to sunlight]] (or, more specifically, UV radiation) [[Fantastic Religious Weirdness|and can smell Christians]].

== Literature ==

* ''[[The Moomins]]'' are amoung the best-known friendly trolls. Moomintrolls are fuzzy and rather resemble tiny hippos.

*** There seems to be different continuities, since this troper remembers an old Moomins story where they discover their mummified ancestors, who are very tall, stretched versions of the standards Moomins, and naturally come to life during the story.

* Trolls in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' are made of rock, with silicon brains and diamond teeth. This helps explain their natural rivalry with dwarves: if you're a race [[Planet of Hats|made up entirely of miners]], and you see a nice sleepy rock with diamonds in it, you're going to take a swing, right?

*** The book ''[[Discworld/Thud|Thud]]'' introduced Mr. Shine. Other trolls say of him, "Mr Shine, him ''diamond''," which is true; Mr. Shine is a rare troll composed entirely of diamond. Since diamond trolls can regulate their body temperature by reflecting heat, Mr. Shine's brain works far better than regular trolls', even in high temperatures. As a diamond troll, Mr. Shine is the rightful king of the trolls, but isn't interested in ruling; rather he invests his energies into his efforts to bring about peace between trolls and dwarves.

*** And they're not even the only ones fitting the metaphor; the Golems fill that niche as well. And would you believe the Golems are ''completely different''.

**** They obviously feed off the calcium in their bones. There's been a time or two when a nastier sort of troll has threatened to make soup from a human's bones.

**** Gargoyles also live off what they can filter-feed from the water in the gutters. And that is why they spout water.

* The trolls who appear in Jan Brett's picture books are little furry people with onion-shaped heads and long, lion-like tails. They're mischievous but nice guys.

* Trolls in Jim Butcher's [[The Dresden Files|Dresdenverse]] are apparently haggish, mostly stupid creatures that haunt bridges in dark corners and apparently have dominion over "naughty children" according to the prequel short story ''Restoration of Faith''. Also, when a troll is mortally wounded, its skin collapses and a veritable army of ant-sized trolls spill out, which then apparently need quite some time to grow up back into a full-sized troll and the majority of which will be killed off by other natural and supernatural predators, keeping the troll population from growing too much.

*** The Winter Fae trolls are also high-ranking enforcers of the Unseelie Court. Their opposite numbers in the Summer Court (literally; among their main jobs are to counter one another in the event of a fight) are [[Three Billy Goats Gruff|gruffs]], who work in threes.

* Trolls in Eoin Colfer's ''[[Artemis Fowl]]'' series are mindless subterranean predators with retractable talons, venomous tusks, dreadlocks, and horns. And they are ''big''.

** It's also implied that they are twisted copies of Ents in the same way as Orcs are of Elves, though whether this is biological or just metaphorical is unknown.

*** Treebeard says that the trolls were an imitation of ents, an attempt to create creatures of similar strength and durability, though they are much weaker than the originals.

* A few trolls appear in [[Brian Froud]]'s books, such as ''Faeries''. He mentions that the friendly, furry species of troll is sometimes called a "Trow" (the Shetland word for trolls) -- right after explaining that human names for the various kinds of Faery creatures are arbitrary. Indeed, there doesn't seem to be a set "rule" for what creature gets to be called a troll or a goblin or so on.

* Trolls in [[David Eddings]]'s ''[[Elenium]]'' and ''[[Tamuli]]'' series are semi-intelligent, simian creatures who can't die of natural causes. They (and their gods) become ''very'' important in the ''Tamuli''.

* In [[Eric Flint]]'s ''[[Trail of Glory|The Rivers of War]]'', there are two types of troll. You got your short, ugly, terrifying, "formidable" ''asga siti'' (Cherokee for [[Badass]]) Scots-Irish troll named Patrick Driscoll, who'll grind your bones for his bread, and you got your more energetic, ex-Navy African-American troll named Charles Ball, who'll just have the Voodoo queen he married, Marie LaVeau, make soup from your ears. Note that Charles Ball and Marie LaVeau are actual historical people, although historically they didn't marry each other.

* Trolls in John Ringo's ''[[Council Wars]]'' series are Elves that have been warped and Changed into brutish warriors, much as humans have been Changed into Orcs (His Elves are genetically engineered [[Super Soldiers]]).

* In Johanna Sinisalo's ''Not Before Sundown'' trolls are a scientifically acknowledged class of mammal that live in the northern forests and tundras. They're so reclusive that they were thought to be legend until somebody found a real corpse. They're about human-sized, bipedal, combine feline and primate traits, and have sleek, black fur and whip-like tails. As it turns out during the story, their pheromones are strong enough to cause obsessive love, or even sexual attraction in humans in some circumstances. {{spoiler|They're also sentient, and have just recently learned to use human firearms, and have started poaching for hunters.}}

* Nero, the cliff troll in the first ''[[Fablehaven]]'' book, is an oversized humanoid reptile. He likes to make deals, and is quite a dangerous haggler.

 

== Live Action TV ==

** Trolls here apparently have powerful magic that has the ability to prevent a human from seeing their true form and allows the troll to control them when used to enchant an amulet that the troll then convinces the victim to wear. Their blood, which is green, is used to do this.

*** The only way to break their magic is for the victim (Uther in this case) to cry tears of true remorse.

* ''[[The Noddy Shop]]'' had a family of trolls that were tiny, ugly-cute people. The mother and father were mischievous rather than outright mean, while the son didn't want to be that way.

** There is also a version that turns to stone at the ringing of church bells, which would explain why trolls are so rare nowadays.

* In other tales, Scandinavian ''Tomte'' (trolls) are helpful, but mischevious, [[Fair Folk]] with [[Gag Nose|big noses]], who dwell in caves in the forest, are short, ugly and covered in fur, and not to be crossed under any circumstances—one must be careful to treat them well and leave milk and cookies out for them lest they steal your children instead of bringing you good fortune (see above).

* When it comes to mythological trolls, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/stories/dovrefjell/dovrefjell_01.php Kaja Foglio's adaptation] of ''The Cat On The Dovrefjell'' actually hit the nail on the head. Certain legends even described the males of the species as being hideously ugly, but the females ([[Cute Monster Girl|tails and occasional other weird features notwithstanding]]) as quite attractive by human standards. (For an example of this in modern media, do a Google search for "Cutefase.")

** The beautiful troll females described in the story above (as well as in the Foglios' [[XXXenophile]] story, see the comic books folder) are known as Huldra. To further complicate matters, Huldra are considered to be related to both trolls and [[Fair Folk]]. They prefer human men, though.

*** This is consistent with actual [[Norse Mythology]], in which a [[wikipedia:Huldra|huldra]] (or huldre) is generally speaking a beautiful, if [[Tsundere|tempermental]] woman with a cow tail and unusual strength; they're both trolls, [[The Fair Folk]], and confusingly, ''also'' a type of "Alf" (Elf, that is).

* Another mythological creature comparable to trolls in their vagueness is the Bunyip, a creature in [[Land Down Under|Aboriginal and Australian folklore]]. About the only common feature any rendition of the bunyip has is that it lives in swamps, and sometimes it's basically an [[Ultimate Evil]].

* Besides these general characteristics, few fairy tales portray the trolls the same way as another. The most famous might be the one who lived under a bridge and tried to capture goats. One story has trolls with multiple heads. Another tells of a very stupid troll who was tricked into cutting his own belly open. Yet another troll kidnapped girls and took them into his own to marry them. (If they wouldn't he tore their heads off. Somehow everyone got better.) Trolls are [[The More You Know|truly diverse creatures]].

* Norwegian myth is actually rather consistent when it comes to naming creatures generally referred to as trolls:

** There's various subspecies who may omit the vulnerability to acid and/or fire, or gain new one. Such species include swamp trolls, mountain trolls, crystal trolls and [[Super Soldier|war trolls]].

*** And with the right templates, can have ''no'' vulnerabilities. Laying a template which grants immunity to acid on a war troll leads to a monster that cannot be killed by hitpoint damage, although it can still be (temporarily) knocked out, and killed by drowning, Constitution Damage/Drain and Energy Drain. See [http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101587 Emerald Legion] for an example of extreme templating that tries to cover these weaknesses as well.

* Trolls in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' are pretty much the same, only adding on a ridiculously-caustic stomach acid, capable of digesting rock, that they like to vomit on their foes/victims.

** And even then, there are at least three kinds of trolls in the [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] universe.

** In fairness, a smart troll is smarter than the vast majority of humans and a troll looker is likely to have more than a few non-trolls trying to chat her up, if only out of curiosity. It's mostly just players realising that putting those points into strength instead mean they can hit harder with a fist than with a shotgun to the face.

{{quote|'''Daniel, Bear Shaman:''' If trolls were really as dumb as they're made out to be there wouldn't be too many troll runners. We'd all be dead of our own idiocy by now.}}

*** The tie-in novel ''Changeling''—the protagonist of which was a ''brilliant'' [[Was Once a Man|rich kid who'd goblinized]]—went into detail on this. Once Peter adjusted to troll thought processes, it was clear that he was still pretty damn sharp (even if he did spend a lot of time [[Obfuscating Stupidity|playing it down]]).

** In ''Runner Havens'', a troll is on Hong Kong's board of directors. His name is Tai Kong. It goes without saying his nickname is "King".

** They also have three toes—no, not two. There's two in the front, and a small, underdeveloped dewclaw where the heel would be on a human.

** The majority of the forest troll's anomalies and powers were explained by revealing that the elves had enslaved and performed cruel experiments on them several hundred years before the Second War. These experiments influenced their genetics,leading both to their green fur and regenerative abilities, as well as their overwhelming hatred of elves and The Alliance in general. In fact, {{spoiler|they only joined the horde when their chieftain, Zul'Jin, was imprisoned by the elves at the human settlement of Hillsbrad, only to be saved by the orcs}}.

** And since the players can have green skin, horns, and the same superpowers, there are quite a few Troll heroes and villains out there. A lot of the player-made ones are [[Cute Monster Girl|cute monster girls]] since The Trolls are an all-male street gang.

* Trolls in ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]: Oblivion'' are [http://static.squidoo.com/resize/squidoo_images/-1/draft_lens1503817module8717698photo_elder_scrolls_oblivion_troll_190305.jpg1205627027 big ape-like beasts with green, moss-like fur and three eyes]. They have low-level health regeneration and can be killed by normal means, but are especially vulnerable to fire.

** They also have an extreme tendency towards "regeneration", which depending on the game might just make them slowly regain health, might fully heal in a matter of seconds if not killed fast (especially if everything in the game regains health in real time), may make them rise from the dead, and is almost always hindered in some equally inconsistent way by fire (and sometimes, though not always, by acid).

* Trolls in ''[[Nethack]]'' have a large chance of spontaneously reviving if their corpse isn't taken care of in some way, like {{spoiler|being eaten, disintegrated, or thrown underwater (fire does NOT, by the way, really help in this case)}}. However, they lose a level every time and have a chance of not coming back anyways. They tend to make decent pets for the careless.

* Trolls in ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' are large, bulky, plate-armor wearing mercenaries. They, in the past, were allies of the player-friendly Empire of Aht Urhgan, but turned against them and are now in the employ of Moblins (Goblins with fancy armor).

* The Locust in ''[[Gears of War]]'' are arguably a [[Not Using the Zed Word]] or [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp]] version of trolls, given some of the parallels to the "repulsive underground dweller hostile to man" version of trolls—including being considered legendary monsters. They vary from diminutive humanoids to enormous pseudo-arthropods, using teeth, claws, or guns—either scavenged from humans, or their own designs—and seem to actually be fairly intelligent.

* Trolls in ''[[Stonekeep]]'' are corrupted faeriefolk, and look as such (kind of like evil hobbits). They cannot cross iron spikes driven into the ground and have an aversion to faerie garb—if you equip yourself entirely in faerie clothing, you become completely immune to the attacks of trolls, even though you look very stupid doing so.

* The Trolls found in ''[[Kameo]]'' are what most would consider to be "standard" Trolls, to the point of being generic. Brutish, violent, fairly dim and always spoiling for a rumble. However, there are some sub-species that are encountered along the way, some lethal (Fire Trolls, Ice Trolls and Shadow Trolls) and some not so lethal (small Trolls who hide in metal balls, Trolls that are part plant). The "normal" Trolls stand out from the magical folk of the game by having a unique affinity with machines; a trait which forged the foundation of a shaky truce until Thorn (a "cunning Troll") took control of the entire race and began yet another war.

* The trolls of ''[[Total Annihilation Kingdoms]]'' are generic monster men from Zhon, slightly stronger than most humans.

* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' features two types of trolls:

** The common "troll", a basically sentient but slow-witted beast which Goblins sometimes use as living battering rams to break fortress doors and cause havoc. Description text tells that trolls are "huge humanoid monsters with coarse fur, large tusks and horns." Now that shearing has been implemented, they are also goblins' ''source of wool'' which combined with their gray fur and black skin may mean they look quite a lot like giant, monstrous, humanoid sheep

* In ''[[Serenity Rose]]'', trolls are big hairy creatures with almost completely featureless faces [http://www.heartshapedskull.com/2008/10/15/goodbye-crestfallen-page-045/\], conjured by witches to defend the Inconsolable Wood from intruders, and are specifically designed to take orders from any witch.

* In ''[http://www.swiftriver-comics.com/ Swiftriver]'', trolls are blue skinned, hairy, and [http://swiftriver-comics.com/swiftriver/2009/07/15/true-colors/ sport horns]. They tend to to be over six feet tall (not counting their horns) and have two rows of teeth. They are always of Norse or Scandinavian heritage and can project a glamour to make them appear human.

* ''[[Homestuck]]'' plays with the dual meaning by having [[Troll|internet trolls]] turn out to be actual grey-skinned creatures with horns. Further reveals have shown that they're [[Humanoid Aliens]], with [[Bizarre Alien Biology]] implying that they're closer to insects than humans. They're a [[Higher-Tech Species]] whose society runs on [[Blue and Orange Morality]] and lots of violence. They're almost all bisexual (because gender is vestigial) and polygamous (troll reproduction requires this); many are either psychic or psychotic. {{spoiler|Most of the less-savory aspects of their culture are not natural, but were engineered by malevolent outside forces. Prior to the pressing of an in-universe [[Reset Button]], trolls were a peaceful species.}} Personality-wise, there's a great deal of variation within the 12 trolls in the cast (and [[Generation Xerox|their ancestors]]): from [[Anti-Hero|Anti Heroes]] to [[Anti-Villain|Anti Villains]], [[The Woobie|Woobies]] to [[Smug Snake]]s, [[Complete Monster]]s to [[Messianic Archetype]]s.

** Not quite polygamous; they have four different kinds of romance (I am ''not'' going into that here), and while they believe in finding satisfying relationships in all four quadrants, they also try to stay monogamous within a quadrant, and having the same kind of relationship with more than one person is still a no-no. As is being in more than one quadrant with the same person simultaneously.

* ''[[Pibgorn]]'': [http://www.gocomics.com/pibgorn/2002/12/18/ Troll?] Hardly! [[Political Correctness Gone Mad|Bridge substructure symbiont.]]

* ''[[PvP (webcomic)|Pv P]]'': Skull. Blue, horned, fat, farts a lot, genuinely nice and [[Adorkable]]. He's been with Scott Kurtz's work for a long time, serving as a mascot, comic relief and semi-[[Author Avatar]] since his Everquest-based comic Samwise in the 90's. His status in the comic as a mythical creature is subject to some [[Magical Realism]] restrictions; he was apparently assigned to Brent Sienna as an imaginary friend when Brent was a kid and just stuck around. Has recently struck up a friendship with The Freemont Troll (see below) since the comic moved to Seattle.

* Trolls in ''[[Looking for Group]]'' are a warrior race of greenish-skinned humanoid creatures with glowing red or orange eyes who live in a rather primitive tribal culture and possess shamanic magic, and are quite intelligent (except for Tim, though his stupidity is a product of multiple head wounds). They are initially introduced as antagonists, {{spoiler|until Cale helps recruit them into the Kingdom of Kethenecia}}. Although Benn'Joon, who has been described a number of times as being a troll, is [[Cute Monster Girl|most]] [[Hartman Hips|definitely]] [[Hello, Nurse!|not]] [[Ms. Fanservice|ugly]]. On the other hand, to say Benny's parentage is unclear is rather of an understatement, and she is universally recognized by other characters as a half-breed. Recent strips imply {{spoiler|she may be the daughter of Captain Tah'Vraay, who appears to be of an Elven subrace}}.

 

** And it's summoned with the [[Power of Rock]].

* Trolls in ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters]]'' eat metal and multiply by mitosis.

* The Trolls from ''[[David the Gnome]]'' are based on the Scandinavian troll myths, hairy, ugly, man sized creatures who turn to stone in sunlight, and are extremely greedy.